Community Lecture
Toy Story: Character-Driven Mathematics

Toy Story was the first 3D computer-graphics feature film. The entire film was made without ever exposing film to a real scene. Everything was simulated, in a process that took more than 800,000 machine hours to compute. The simulation, while based loosely on physics, was designed far more to accomplish artistic and story-telling goals. Form, surface appearance, motion, color and light were all created from mathematical models, wielded by traditional and technical artists. From relatively simple mathematical machinery, and appropriate data, the first ever "from scratch" film was created. Those mathematical tools, the uses to which they were put, and the way they were used in service to artistic goals, will be discussed.